Data receiving devices and methods for receiving data

ABSTRACT

According to an embodiments, a device may be provided. The device may include a data receiver configured to receive data in sets of consecutive packets from a data transmitter, wherein each set may include a first packet and at least one further packet. The device may further include a first packet reception determinator configured to determine whether the first packet of a set of consecutive packets is received by the data receiver. The device may further include a data sending determinator configured to determine whether the data transmitter sends the set of consecutive packets based on whether the first packet of the set of consecutive packets is received.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments relate generally to data receiving devices and methods forreceiving data.

BACKGROUND

In various communication systems, the interface between a transmitterand a receiver may be based on a packet oriented link. In order to keepthe transmitter and receiver synchronized, in commonly used systems,after a period of time where no data is to be transmitted,synchronization may be established anew, or dummy data may be sent evenif no useful data is to be transmitted, in order not to have toestablish synchronization anew.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings, like reference characters generally refer to the sameparts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarilyto scale, emphasis instead generally being placed upon illustrating theprinciples of the invention. In the following description, variousembodiments of the invention are described with reference to thefollowing drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a device in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 2 shows a device in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 3 shows a flow diagram illustrating a method in accordance with anembodiment;

FIG. 4 shows a device in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 5 shows a flow diagram illustrating a method in accordance with anembodiment;

FIG. 6 shows a flow diagram illustrating a method in accordance with anembodiment;

FIG. 7 shows a state diagram illustrating a method in accordance with anembodiment; and

FIG. 8 shows a diagram illustrating a method in accordance with anembodiment.

DESCRIPTION

In various communication systems, the interface between a transmitterand a receiver may be based on a packet oriented link. In order to keepthe transmitter and receiver synchronized, in commonly used systems,after a period of time where no data is to be transmitted,synchronization may be established anew, or dummy data may be sent evenif no useful data is to be transmitted, in order not to have toestablish synchronization anew.

In commonly used methods, the sample stream may be kept alive even incases where no samples are required by the baseband. For power savingreasons most of the receive path and the transceiver may be switched offin this case. Only parts of the sample generation unit may be desired tobe active in this state. The other parts may be used for other purposesor they may be switched off for power saving reasons. In this state onlya dummy sample stream may be propagated to the baseband. To restart thesample stream, a restart command may be sent by the baseband to thetransceiver. As a response, the transceiver may start to send validsamples to the baseband again. The transceiver may be responsible to putthe valid samples at the correct position in the running sample stream.According to this method, no restart of the sample stream may bedesired. Instead, the old stream timing may be used and the new samplesmay be placed at the correct position in this stream. According to thismethod, the dummy stream may have to be kept alive on the interface, forexample a DigRF interface. Furthermore, the dummy traffic may usebandwidth on the bus which may be desired for other purposes (e.g. formeasurements on a different RAT (radio access technology)), the dummytraffic may increase the power consumption on the link, for example theDigRF Link, and, when changing the configuration of the interface, forexample the DigRf interface, no dummy traffic may be allowed (oneexample may be a change of the datarate, for example of the DigRFdatarate, which may desire a resettling of the involved PLLs(phase-locked loops) and thus may desire a communication gap on theinterface, for example on the DigRF Interface).

According to various embodiments, devices and methods may be providedwherein, in case no data is to be transmitted in a packet oriented link,both the transmitter and the receiver make a break in data transmissionof a pre-determined number of packets. This may be provided by groupingthe packets into sets of consecutive packets (in other words: intosegments). As both the transmitter and the receiver are aware of thenumber of packets in a set, both the transmitter and the receiver knowhow long a break may take, and may keep synchronization, like will bedescribed in more detail below.

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawingsthat show, by way of illustration, specific details and embodiments inwhich the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described insufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice theinvention. Other embodiments may be utilized and structural, logical,and electrical changes may be made without departing from the scope ofthe invention. The various embodiments are not necessarily mutuallyexclusive, as some embodiments can be combined with one or more otherembodiments to form new embodiments.

The terms “coupling” or “connection” are intended to include a direct“coupling” or direct “connection” as well as an indirect “coupling” orindirect “connection”, respectively.

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example,instance, or illustration”. Any embodiment or design described herein as“exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other embodiments or designs.

In various embodiments, a device may be a mobile radio communicationdevice, for example an end-user mobile device (MD). In variousembodiments, a mobile radio communication device may be any kind ofmobile telephone, personal digital assistant, mobile computer, or anyother mobile device configured for communication with a mobilecommunication base station (in other words: with a base station (BS)) oran access point (AP) and may be also referred to as a User Equipment(UE), a mobile station (MS) or an advanced mobile station (advanced MS,AMS), for example in accordance with IEEE 802.16m. A mobile radiocommunication device may also be referred to as a mobile terminal or asterminal device.

A device may include a memory which may for example be used in theprocessing carried out by the device. A memory used in the embodimentsmay be a volatile memory, for example a DRAM (Dynamic Random AccessMemory) or a non-volatile memory, for example a PROM (Programmable ReadOnly Memory), an EPROM (Erasable PROM), EEPROM (Electrically ErasablePROM), or a flash memory, e.g., a floating gate memory, a chargetrapping memory, an MRAM (Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory) or aPCRAM (Phase Change Random Access Memory).

In an embodiment, a “circuit” may be understood as any kind of a logicimplementing entity, which may be special purpose circuitry or aprocessor executing software stored in a memory, firmware, or anycombination thereof. Thus, in an embodiment, a “circuit” may be ahard-wired logic circuit or a programmable logic circuit such as aprogrammable processor, e.g. a microprocessor (e.g. a ComplexInstruction Set Computer (CISC) processor or a Reduced Instruction SetComputer (RISC) processor). A “circuit” may also be a processorexecuting software, e.g. any kind of computer program, e.g. a computerprogram using a virtual machine code such as e.g. Java. Any other kindof implementation of the respective functions which will be described inmore detail below may also be understood as a “circuit” in accordancewith an alternative embodiment.

Various embodiments are provided for devices, and various embodimentsare provided for methods. It will be understood that basic properties ofthe devices also hold for the methods and vice versa. Therefore, forsake of brevity, duplicate description of such properties may beomitted.

It will be understood that any property described herein for a specificdevice may also hold for any device described herein. It will beunderstood that any property described herein for a specific method mayalso hold for any method described herein.

FIG. 1 shows a device 100 in accordance with an embodiment. The device100 may include a data receiver 102 configured to receive data in setsof consecutive packets from a data transmitter (not shown in FIG. 1),wherein each set may include a first packet and at least one furtherpacket. The device 100 may further include a first packet receptiondeterminator 104 configured to determine whether the first packet of aset of consecutive packets is received by the data receiver 102. Thedevice 100 may further include a data sending determinator 106configured to determine whether the data transmitter sends the set ofconsecutive packets based on whether the first packet of the set ofconsecutive packets is received. The data receiver 102, the first packetreception determinator 104, and the data sending determinator 106 may becoupled with each other, e.g. via an electrical connection 108 such ase.g. a cable or a computer bus or fibre optics via any other suitableelectrical or optical connection to exchange electrical or opticalsignals.

According to various embodiments, the data receiver 102 may be providedas a data receiving circuit. According to various embodiments, the firstpacket reception determinator 104 may be provided as a first packetreception circuit. According to various embodiments, the data sendingdeterminator 106 may be provided as a data sending determinationcircuit.

According to various embodiments, the data receiver 102 may further beconfigured to receive the data from the data transmitter via anelectrical line.

According to various embodiments, the data receiver 102 may further beconfigured to receive the data from the data transmitter wirelessly.

According to various embodiments, the first packet receptiondeterminator 104 may further be configured to determine whether thefirst packet of a set of consecutive packets is received by the datareceiver 102 based on whether the first packet of the set of consecutivepackets is received by the data receiver 102 within a pre-determinedtime.

According to various embodiments, the pre-determined time may be apre-determined time after a time of reception of a previous packet.

According to various embodiments, the data sending determinator 106 mayfurther be configured to determine that the data transmitter sends theset of consecutive packets if the first packet reception determinator104 determines that the first packet of the set of consecutive packetsis received.

According to various embodiments, the data sending determinator 106 mayfurther be configured to determine that the data transmitter does notsend the set of consecutive packets if the first packet receptiondeterminator 104 determines that the first packet of the set ofconsecutive packets is not received.

According to various embodiments, the data receiver 102 may further beconfigured to stop receiving data from the data transmitter if the datasending determinator 106 determines that the data transmitter does notsend the set of consecutive packets.

According to various embodiments, the data receiver 102 may further beconfigured to keep a synchronization with the data transmitter if thedata sending determinator 106 determines that the data transmitter doesnot send the set of consecutive packets.

According to various embodiments, the device 100 may further beconfigured to switch off at least one component of the device 100, thecomponent configured to process received data, if the data sendingdeterminator 106 determines that the data transmitter does not send theset of consecutive packets.

FIG. 2 shows a device 200 in accordance with an embodiment. The device200 may include, similar to the device 100 shown in FIG. 1, a datareceiver 102. The device 200 may include, similar to the device 100shown in FIG. 1, a first packet reception determinator 104. The device200 may further include, similar to the device 100 shown in FIG. 1, adata sending determinator 106. The device 200 may further include thedata transmitter 202. The data receiver 102, the first packet receptiondeterminator 104, the data sending determinator 106, and the datatransmitter 202 may be coupled with each other, e.g. via an electricalconnection 204 such as e.g. a cable or a computer bus or fibre opticsvia any other suitable electrical or optical connection to exchangeelectrical or optical signals.

According to various embodiments, the data transmitter 202 may beprovided as a data transmitting circuit.

According to various embodiments, the device 200 may be a mobile radiocommunication device.

According to various embodiments, the device 200 may be configuredaccording to at least one of the following radio access technologies:Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) radio communicationtechnology, a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) radio communicationtechnology, an Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) radiocommunication technology, FOMA (Freedom of Multimedia Access), and/or aThird Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) radio communicationtechnology (e.g. UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), 3GPPLTE (Long Term Evolution), 3GPP LTE Advanced (Long Term EvolutionAdvanced)), CDMA2000 (Code division multiple access 2000), CDPD(Cellular Digital Packet Data), Mobitex, 3G (Third Generation), CSD(Circuit Switched Data), HSCSD (High-Speed Circuit-Switched Data), UMTS(3G) (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (Third Generation)),W-CDMA (UMTS) (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (Universal MobileTelecommunications System)), HSPA (High Speed Packet Access), HSDPA(High-Speed Downlink Packet Access), HSUPA (High-Speed Uplink PacketAccess), HSPA+ (High Speed Packet Access Plus), UMTS-TDD (UniversalMobile Telecommunications System-Time-Division Duplex), TD-CDMA (TimeDivision-Code Division Multiple Access), TD-CDMA (TimeDivision-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access), 3GPP Rel. 8(Pre-4G) (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 8 (Pre-4thGeneration)), UTRA (UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access), E-UTRA (Evolved UMTSTerrestrial Radio Access), LTE Advanced (4G) (Long Term EvolutionAdvanced (4th Generation)), cdmaOne (2G), CDMA2000 (3G) (Code divisionmultiple access 2000 (Third generation)), EV-DO (Evolution-DataOptimized or Evolution-Data Only), AMPS (1G) (Advanced Mobile PhoneSystem (1st Generation)), TACS/ETACS (Total Access CommunicationSystem/Extended Total Access Communication System), D-AMPS (2G) (DigitalAMPS (2nd Generation)), PTT (Push-to-talk), MTS (Mobile TelephoneSystem), IMTS (Improved Mobile Telephone System), AMTS (Advanced MobileTelephone System), OLT (Norwegian for Offentlig Landmobil Telefoni,Public Land Mobile Telephony), MTD (Swedish abbreviation forMobiltelefonisystem D, or Mobile telephony system D), Autotel/PALM(Public Automated Land Mobile), ARP (Finnish for Autoradiopuhelin, “carradio phone”), NMT (Nordic Mobile Telephony), Hicap (High capacityversion of NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone)), CDPD (Cellular DigitalPacket Data), Mobitex, DataTAC, iDEN (Integrated Digital EnhancedNetwork), PDC (Personal Digital Cellular), CSD (Circuit Switched Data),PHS (Personal Handy-phone System), WiDEN (Wideband Integrated DigitalEnhanced Network), iBurst, Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA, also referredto as also referred to as 3GPP Generic Access Network, or GANstandard)), LTE TDD (LTE Time Division Duplex), TD-LTE, WorldwideInteroperability for Microwave Access (WiMax) (e.g. according to an IEEE802.16 radio communication standard, e.g. WiMax fixed or WiMax mobile),WiPro, HiperMAN (High Performance Radio Metropolitan Area Network)and/or IEEE 802.16m Advanced Air Interface.

According to various embodiments, at least one of the data receiver 102and the data transmitter 202 may include (or may be provided to be usedfor data reception or transmission by) a chip configured to process datarelated to wireless transmission of the mobile radio communicationdevice.

According to various embodiments, the data receiver 102 may include ormay be a baseband chip and the data transmitter 202 may include or maybe a radio frequency transceiver chip.

According to various embodiments, the data receiver 102 may include ormay be a radio frequency transceiver chip and the data transmitter 202may include or may be a baseband chip.

FIG. 3 shows a flow diagram 300 illustrating a method in accordance withan embodiment. In 302, data may be received in sets of consecutivepackets from a data transmitter, wherein each set may include a firstpacket and at least one further packet. In 304, it may be determinedwhether the first packet of a set of consecutive packets is received. In306, it may be determined whether the data transmitter sends the set ofconsecutive packets based on whether the first packet of the set ofconsecutive packets is received.

According to various embodiments, the data may be received from the datatransmitter via an electrical line.

According to various embodiments, the data may be received from the datatransmitter wirelessly.

According to various embodiments, it may be determined whether the firstpacket of a set of consecutive packets is received based on whether thefirst packet of the set of consecutive packets is received within apre-determined time.

According to various embodiments, the pre-determined time may be apre-determined time after a time of reception of a previous packet.

According to various embodiments, it may be determined that the datatransmitter sends the set of consecutive packets if it is determinedthat the first packet of the set of consecutive packets is received.

According to various embodiments, it may be determined that the datatransmitter does not send the set of consecutive packets if it isdetermined that the first packet of the set of consecutive packets isnot received.

According to various embodiments, receiving data from the datatransmitter may be stopped if it is determined that the data transmitterdoes not send the set of consecutive packets.

According to various embodiments, a synchronization with the datatransmitter may be kept if it is determined that the data transmitterdoes not send the set of consecutive packets.

According to various at least one component configured to processreceived data may be switched off, if it is determined that the datatransmitter does not send the set of consecutive packets.

According to various embodiments, the method may be performed in adevice (for example device 100 shown in FIG. 1 or device 200 shown inFIG. 2), in which a data receiver receiving the data from the datatransmitter and the data transmitter are provided.

According to various embodiments, the device may be a mobile radiocommunication device.

According to various embodiments, the device may be configured accordingto at least one of the following radio access technologies: GlobalSystem for Mobile Communications (GSM) radio communication technology, aGeneral Packet Radio Service (GPRS) radio communication technology, anEnhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) radio communicationtechnology, FOMA (Freedom of Multimedia Access), and/or a ThirdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) radio communication technology(e.g. UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), 3GPP LTE (LongTerm Evolution), 3GPP LTE Advanced (Long Term Evolution Advanced)),CDMA2000 (Code division multiple access 2000), CDPD (Cellular DigitalPacket Data), Mobitex, 3G (Third Generation), CSD (Circuit SwitchedData), HSCSD (High-Speed Circuit-Switched Data), UMTS (3G) (UniversalMobile Telecommunications System (Third Generation)), W-CDMA (UMTS)(Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (Universal MobileTelecommunications System)), HSPA (High Speed Packet Access), HSDPA(High-Speed Downlink Packet Access), HSUPA (High-Speed Uplink PacketAccess), HSPA+ (High Speed Packet Access Plus), UMTS-TDD (UniversalMobile Telecommunications System-Time-Division Duplex), TD-CDMA (TimeDivision-Code Division Multiple Access), TD-CDMA (TimeDivision-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access), 3GPP Rel. 8(Pre-4G) (3rd Generation Partnership Project Release 8 (Pre-4thGeneration)), UTRA (UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access), E-UTRA (Evolved UMTSTerrestrial Radio Access), LTE Advanced (4G) (Long Term EvolutionAdvanced (4th Generation)), cdmaOne (2G), CDMA2000 (3G) (Code divisionmultiple access 2000 (Third generation)), EV-DO (Evolution-DataOptimized or Evolution-Data Only), AMPS (1G) (Advanced Mobile PhoneSystem (1st Generation)), TACS/ETACS (Total Access CommunicationSystem/Extended Total Access Communication System), D-AMPS (2G) (DigitalAMPS (2nd Generation)), PTT (Push-to-talk), MTS (Mobile TelephoneSystem), IMTS (Improved Mobile Telephone System), AMTS (Advanced MobileTelephone System), OLT (Norwegian for Offentlig Landmobil Telefoni,Public Land Mobile Telephony), MTD (Swedish abbreviation forMobiltelefonisystem D, or Mobile telephony system D), Autotel/PALM(Public Automated Land Mobile), ARP (Finnish for Autoradiopuhelin, “carradio phone”), NMT (Nordic Mobile Telephony), Hicap (High capacityversion of NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone)), CDPD (Cellular DigitalPacket Data), Mobitex, DataTAC, iDEN (Integrated Digital EnhancedNetwork), PDC (Personal Digital Cellular), CSD (Circuit Switched Data),PHS (Personal Handy-phone System), WiDEN (Wideband Integrated DigitalEnhanced Network), iBurst, Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA, also referredto as also referred to as 3GPP Generic Access Network, or GANstandard)), LTE TDD (LTE Time Division Duplex), TD-LTE, WorldwideInteroperability for Microwave Access (WiMax) (e.g. according to an IEEE802.16 radio communication standard, e.g. WiMax fixed or WiMax mobile),WiPro, HiperMAN (High Performance Radio Metropolitan Area Network)and/or IEEE 802.16m Advanced Air Interface.

According to various embodiments, at least one of the data receiver andthe data transmitter may include (or may be provided to be used for datareception or transmission by) a chip configured to process data relatedto wireless transmission of the mobile radio communication device.

According to various embodiments, the data receiver may include or maybe a baseband chip and the data transmitter may include or may be aradio frequency transceiver chip.

According to various embodiments, the data receiver may include or maybe a radio frequency transceiver chip and the data transmitter mayinclude or may be a baseband chip.

FIG. 4 shows a device 400 in accordance with an embodiment. The device400 may include a data sending determinator 402 configured to determinewhether a data transmitter sends a set of consecutive packets, whereineach set may include a first packet and at least one further packet,based on whether the first packet of the set of consecutive packets isreceived by the device.

FIG. 5 shows a flow diagram 500 illustrating a method in accordance withan embodiment. In 502, it may be determined whether a data transmittersends a set of consecutive packets, each set comprising a first packetand at least one further packet, based on whether the first packet ofthe set of consecutive packets is received.

According to various embodiments, in a communication system, theinterface between a transmitter and a receiver, for example between abaseband chip and a rf (radio frequency) transceiver chip, may be basedon a packet oriented link. For example, devices and methods may beprovided for a communication in line with the MIPI AllianceSpecification for DigRF5NI v4.

According to various embodiments, in contrast to previous IQ(In-phase/Quadrature) datainterfaces, which may have been based on anequidistant sample stream, the DigRF standard may provide logicalchannels for the IQ samples. A logical channel may be implemented by apacket containing a header and a payload. The header may carry anidentifier for the logical channel type. Data and control logicalchannels may be distinguished by the logical channel type. The payloadof a data packet may carry a defined number of IQ samples.

According to various embodiments, all logical channel types may bemultiplexed onto the same physical link. An arbiter may be responsibleto prioritize between the different transfer requests. Due to thearbitration procedure, usually packets may have a variable latency.

As a consequence, a control packet for the rf transceiver may have alimited accuracy in time. To increase the accuracy, a special timeaccurate strobe packet (TAS packet) may be defined, for example likedefined by the DigRF standard.

Anyhow, even the accuracy of a TAS packet may not always be the desiredchoice to control the timing of the sampling in the transceiver. Anexample may be the restart of the WCDMA IQ sample stream in a 3GPPsystem e.g. after a measurement gap used for example for GSMmeasurements.

According to various embodiments, devices and methods may be provided torecover the timing of a sample stream (or a packet stream) after a gapwithout the need to send additional TAS packets with high accuracy.

According to various embodiments, devices and methods may be providedthat allow to replace a dummy stream by a communication GAP (for examplein cases no data is to be transmitted). According to variousembodiments, the dummy stream may be kept alive in the transceiver andthe baseband. According to various embodiments, devices and methods maybe provided which allow to reconstruct an accurate stream timing and/orto synchronize the baseband and transceiver even after communicationgaps. According to various embodiments, an alignment may be providedbetween the baseband and the transceiver.

According to various embodiments, a datastream, for example a datastreamon the digRF bus, may be divided into segments. The size of a segmentmay be a defined number of packets (for example an integernumber_of_packets_per_segment), where every packet may include the samenumber of samples, for example an integer n. Thus, the total number ofsamples in a segment may benumber_of_samples_per_segment=number_of_packets_per_segment·n.Both the data transmitter and the data receiver, for example both thetransceiver and the baseband, may know the value ofnumber_of_samples_per_segment.

According to various embodiments, when the data transmitter, for exampletransceiver, starts a transmission gap towards the data receiver, forexample towards the baseband, it may always skip an integer number ofsegments. According to various embodiments, the device in which the datareceiver is provided, for example the receiving baseband, may performthe following three tasks:

a) Identify the start of a gap: The gap length may be determined by theparameter number_of_samples_per_segment ornumber_of_packets_per_segment. The gap length may be chosen in a waythat there is no risk for a false alarm gap detection. Thus the gaplength may be larger than the expected packet jitter due to latencycaused by packet arbitration and/or retransmission effects. According tovarious embodiments, a gap may be detected (in other words: it may bedetermined that the data transmitter does not send the segment; in otherwords: it may be determined that the data transmitter does not send theset of consecutive packets), for example based on a read pulse of a readcounter; this may provide that in a case where the data transmitter andthe data receiver have agreed on a sampling rate, the gap detection maybe provided independent from the agreed sampling rate.

b) When the device including the data receiver, for example thebaseband, identifies (in other words: determines) a gap, it may knowthat a multiple number of numbers_of_samples_per_segment samples (or amultiple number of number_of_packets_per_sample packets) will beskipped. With the detection of the gap, it may insertnumber_of_samples_per_segment samples in its internal dummy samplestream (for example the internal dummy sample stream may be kept aliveduring this gap). Every number_of_samples_per_segment dummy samplesanother number_of_samples_per_segment may be inserted. This proceduremay continue until the next packet (first packet after gap) is received.

c) The gap may end when the next packet (first packet after a gap) isreceived from the data transmitter, for example the transceiver.

According to various embodiments, the devices and methods describedabove may also be applied for transmit direction, for example fortransmission from a baseband to a transceiver.

In the following, a more detailed description of devices and methodsshowing the basic idea and a baseband implementation according tovarious embodiments will be described.

Various devices and methods may be referred to as devices and methodsfor a timing recovery mode.

FIG. 6 shows a flow diagram 600 illustrating a method in accordance withan embodiment. Received packets 602 are shown over a time axis 606. Forexample, sending of packets from a data transmitter may be initiated bya data transmitter switch on message 614. After a processing delay,first packets may be received in a data receiver, like indicated byarrow 616. A fill level of a first-in-first-out (FIFO) buffer 604, forexample a baseband FIFO fill buffer, and a corresponding FIFO underflowrange 608, a FIFO operating range 610, and a FIFO overflow range 612 areshown.

According to various embodiments, in the context of the timing recoverymode, it may be desired to maintain a consistent FIFO pointer arithmetic(write and read pointer) even in the underflow/overflow area. As aconsequence the FIFO fill level may have negative values.

According to various embodiments, a gap may be initiated by a datatransmitter switch off message 618. After a processing delay, the datatransmitter, for example the rf transceiver, may stop sending packets,for example may stop the 3G data stream, like indicated by arrow 620,until the stream is reactivated by a data transmitter switch on message648 (which may also be delay due to processing delay and waiting untilskipping of packets is complete, like indicated by arrow 650). There maybe no hard timing requirements for the data receiver, for example thebaseband, in positioning the messages. After a data transmitter switchon command, the data transmitter, for example the rf transceiver, may beresponsible to extend the gap that it is a multiple of n (for example nequals three) data packets. Every group of n (for example three) packetsmay be called a set of consecutive packets or a segment. For example, afirst segment 632, a second segment 634, a third segment 636 and afourth segment 638 may be provided. The gap may be divided into asequence of segments of equal length in multiple of packets. The packetsthat are not transmitted and not received (i.e. the position wherepackets would be received in normal operation, but are not present dueto a gap) are shown in dashed lines and numbered with the respectivepacket number in the set of consecutive packets. In the example shown inFIG. 6, a set or segment may include three packets.

According to various embodiments, an automatic gap detection may beprovided, for example in a data wrapper. According to variousembodiments, with every packet, for example with every 3G data packet, acounter may be started or restarted at the beginning of the reception ofa packet, for example at the beginning of a DLC (data logic channel)packet. The counter may increment with a sample clock (for example withsample clock pulses), for example at the read interface of the wrapper.When the counter exceeds a predetermined threshold, for example aprogrammable threshold, the FIFO fill level may be adjusted by addingnumber of samples per segment to the FIFO write pointer. Starting withthis point after every number_of_samples_per_segment pulses at the readinterface, the write pointer may be adjusted bynumber_of_samples_per_segment samples. This procedure may continue untilthe first packet, for example 3G data packet, for example for acorresponding cell, is received after the gap. With the reception of thefirst packet after the gap, the datastream may continue.

For example, the data receiver, for example the baseband, may do thewrite pointer correction during a first correction period 640 during thefirst segment 632, and during a second correction period 642 during thesecond segment 634, and during a third correction period 644 during thethird segment 636, and during a fourth correction period 646 during thefourth segment 638. According to various embodiments, a correctionperiod may be provided in the middle of a gap segment. According tovarious embodiments, the packet distance may be measured in units ofread samples, and counting read samples via a dedicated counter may beprovided to measure the distance, wherein the gap segment may beallocated based on the distance. Alternatively, the fill level of theFIFO may be used for this purpose. For visualization purposes, a packetdistance monitoring via a dedicated counter may be sufficient.

It will be understood that the number of segments (in other words: thenumber of sets of consecutive packets) and the number of correctionperiods depends on the length of the gap.

According to various embodiments, after a pre-determined time 622 afterreception of the previous packet, it may be determined that the firstpacket of the set of consecutive packets is not received.

According to various embodiments, the second correction period 642 maybe provided a pre-determined time 624, for example corresponding to atime that would be required to receive number_of_samples_per_segmentsamples, or a time that would be required to receivenumber_of_packets_per_segment packets, after the first correction period640. Likewise, the third correction period 644 may be provided apre-determined time 626 after the second correction period 642.Likewise, the fourth correction period 646 may be provided apre-determined time 628 after the third correction period 644. Likewise,a further correction period would be provided a pre-determined time 630after the fourth correction period 646, in case data reception would nothave been re-started after the fourth correction period 646.

According to various embodiments, the segmentation of the gap intoequal-sized segments may provide that the first received packet, forexample the first 3G receive packet, after the gap does not collide withthe preceding adjustment of the write pointer.

According to various embodiments, the first packet after a gap may setthe data receiver, for example the baseband, to normal operation.According to various embodiments, no further correction may be done bythe data receiver, for example the baseband. According to variousembodiments, the position may be “far away” from the correction periodsin the data receiver. According to various embodiments, the total gaplength may be a multiple of n packets.

FIG. 7 shows a state diagram 700 illustrating a method in accordancewith an embodiment. Three states may be provided. In a disabled state702, the method according to various embodiments may not be inoperation. In an inactive state 704, the method according to variousembodiments may be in operation, and it may be determined that the firstpacket in the set of consecutive packets is received. In an active state706, the method according to various embodiments may be in operation,and it may be determined that the first packet in the set of consecutivepackets is not received.

A transition condition 708 for transiting from the inactive state 704 tothe disabled state 702 may be that a flag for enabling the method is setto a disabled value, for example to zero.

A transition condition 710 for transiting from the disabled state 702 tothe inactive state 704 may be that the flag for enabling the method isset to an enabled value, for example to one.

Upon entry into the inactive state 704, a pulse counter may be set to aninitial pulse counter value, for example to zero.

In the inactive state 704, an inactive loop may be executed.

In every loop in the inactive state 704, it may be checked whether theflag for enabling the method is set to the disabled value, and in casethe flag for enabling the method is set to the disabled value, the loopmay be exited. Furthermore, in every loop in the inactive state 704, ifa pulse is determined, the pulse counter may be increased, for exampleby one. Furthermore, in every loop in the inactive state 704, it may bedetermined whether a packet is received, and in case a packet isreceived, the pulse counter is set to the initial pulse counter value.Furthermore, in every loop in the inactive state 704, it may bedetermined whether the loop counter exceeds a pre-determined firstthreshold (which may be referred to as gap threshold), and in case it isdetermined that the loop counter exceeds the pre-determined gapthreshold, a pre-determined value, for examplenumber_of_samples_per_segment, is added to the FIFO writer pointer, andthe loop is exited.

According to various embodiments, packets may be data packets receivedfor a cell. For example, a first type of packets may include packets fora primary antenna, and a second type of packets may include packetsreceived from a diversity antenna in case that antenna diversity isactive. According to various embodiments, in diversity operation, adedicated data logical channel identifier may be assigned to everyantenna. According to various embodiments, the devices and methods maybe cell specific and not antenna specific.

A transition condition 712 for transiting from the inactive state 704 tothe active state 706 may be that the pulse counter exceeds thepre-determined gap threshold.

Upon entry into the active state 706, the pulse counter may be set tothe initial pulse counter value.

In the active state 706, an active loop may be executed.

In every loop in the active state 706, it may be checked whether theflag for enabling the method is set to the disabled value, and in casethe flag for enabling the method is set to the disabled value, the loopmay be exited. Furthermore, in every loop in the active state 706, if apulse is determined, the pulse counter may be increased, for example byone. Furthermore, in every loop in the active state 706, it may bedetermined whether the loop counter exceeds a pre-determined secondthreshold (which may for example be number_of_samples_per_segment), andin case it is determined that the loop counter exceeds the secondthreshold, the pulse counter may be set to the initial pulse countervalue and a pre-determined value, for examplenumber_of_samples_per_segment, may be added to the FIFO writer pointer.

A transition condition 714 for transiting from the active state 706 tothe inactive state 704 may be that a packet is received.

FIG. 8 shows a diagram 800 illustrating a method in accordance with anembodiment. Various data already described above with respect to FIG. 7are shown. Time is assumed to proceed from left to right in FIG. 8. Theflag 802 for enabling the method may be switched at a point of time 816from the disabled value to the enabled value. The clock pulse 804 isshown. The pulse counter 804 starts counting after the flag is set tothe enabled value. The gap threshold 808 is shown, for example with avalue of 7. The value of number_of_samples_per_segment 812 is shown, forexample with a value of 16. The write pointer 812 is shown, like will bedescribed in more detail below. The state 814 of the method is shown,for example as disabled 846 until the switching point 816, inactive 848and active 850, like will be described in more detail below.

As an example, for the start of the example shown in FIG. 8, the writepointer is assumed to have a value of 17 (which is any integer numberthat the write pointer may have at the start of the example), like shownin field 830.

For example, a packet may be received, like indicated by arrow 818. As aconsequence, the clock counter 806 may be reset to the initial clockcounter value, for example to zero. Furthermore, like indicated by arrow822, the write pointer 812 may be increased by the number of samples perpacket, which for this example may be assumed to be four, like indicatedby field 832, so that an overall value of 21 may be present, likeindicated by field 834. For example, a further packet may be received,like indicated by arrow 820. As a consequence, the clock counter 806 maybe reset to the initial clock counter value, for example to zero.Furthermore, like indicated by arrow 824, the write pointer 812 may beincreased by the number of samples per packet, like indicated by field836, so that an overall value of 25 may be present, like indicated byfield 838.

After each received packet, the pulse counter 806 may be increased, forexample by one, with every pulse 804. After the pulse counter 806reaches the value of the gap threshold (for example 7), the state maychange from inactive to active, like indicated by arrows 826 and 840,and field 850. As a consequence, the write pointer 812 may be increasedby the value of number_of_samples_per_segment 810, like indicated byfield 842.

Furthermore, in the active state, after the pulse counter 802 reachesthe value of number_of_samples_per_segment 810, like indicated by arrow828, the write pointer may be increased bynumber_of_samples_per_segment, like indicated by field 844.

According to various embodiments, the TRM mode may be desired to beenabled via the TRM Bits in a pre-determined register. For every cell, adedicated TRM bit may be available. If the TRM is enabled thecorresponding TRM, the finite state machine may change to the TRMinactive state where it waits for a transmission gap. When atransmission gap is detected the TRM, the finite state machine maychange to the TRM active state. An automatic update of the FIFO writepointer may be triggered by the TRM finite state machine afterprogrammable periods. When the first packet, for example 3G packet, isreceived after a gap, the TRM finite state machine (FSM) may return tothe TRM inactive state. Dedicated TRM FSMs may be available for theprimary cell and the secondary cell. They may be controlled independentfrom each other. The gap threshold parameter and thenumber_of_samples_per_segment parameter may be the same for both cells.It may be configured in a pre-determined register.

The actual state of the TRM FSM may be read from pre-determinedregisters.

It will be understood that in the TRM mode, negative FIFO values mayoccur. In the context of the TRM mode, this may be not an errorcondition. Thus, in the TRM enabled states, FIFO overflow and FIFOunderflow errors may be suppressed.

The devices and methods according to various embodiments may be extendedto more than one datastream. If there is a correlation between thepackets for both the datastreams (for example in case there is arelation that packets of a first datastream and packets of a seconddatastream are always neighbour packets) this extensionis may beprovided.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described withreference to specific embodiments, it should be understood by thoseskilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be madetherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention asdefined by the appended claims. The scope of the invention is thusindicated by the appended claims and all changes which come within themeaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended tobe embraced.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device comprising: a data receiver configuredto receive data in sets of consecutive packets from a data transmitter,each set comprising a first packet and at least one further packet; afirst packet reception determinator configured to determine whether thefirst packet of a set of consecutive packets is received by the datareceiver; and a data sending determinator configured to determinewhether the data transmitter sends the set of consecutive packets basedon whether the first packet of the set of consecutive packets isreceived, wherein the data sending determinator is further configured todetermine that the data transmitter does not send the set of consecutivepackets if the first packet reception determinator determines that thefirst packet of the set of consecutive packets is not received.
 2. Thedevice of claim 1, wherein the data receiver is further configured toreceive the data from the data transmitter via an electrical line. 3.The device of claim 1, wherein the data receiver is further configuredto receive the data from the data transmitter wirelessly.
 4. The deviceof claim 1, wherein the first packet reception determinator is furtherconfigured to determine whether the first packet of a set of consecutivepackets is received by the data receiver based on whether the firstpacket of the set of consecutive packets is received by the datareceiver within a pre-determined time.
 5. The device of claim 4, whereinthe pre-determined time is a pre-determined time after a time ofreception of a previous packet.
 6. The device of claim 1, wherein thedata sending determinator is further configured to determine that thedata transmitter sends the set of consecutive packets if the firstpacket reception determinator determines that the first packet of theset of consecutive packets is received.
 7. The device of claim 1,wherein the data receiver is further configured to stop receiving datafrom the data transmitter if the data sending determinator determinesthat the data transmitter does not send the set of consecutive packets.8. The device of claim 7, wherein the data receiver is furtherconfigured to keep a synchronization with the data transmitter if thedata sending determinator determines that the data transmitter does notsend the set of consecutive packets.
 9. The device of claim 8, whereinsaid synchronization comprises an automatic gap detection provided in adata wrapper.
 10. The device of claim 9, wherein said synchronizationfurther comprises a pulse counter that starts upon reception of apacket.
 11. The device of claim 10, wherein the pulse counter isrestarted upon reception of a data packet and incremented upon a clockpulse.
 12. The device of claim 11, wherein the data receiver is furtherconfigured to enter an active state when the pulse counter equals apreviously-determined threshold.
 13. The device of claim 9, wherein thedata receiver is further configured so that, upon the gap detection, atleast one of a multiple number of packets or a multiple number ofpackets will be reconstructed with dummy samples.
 14. The device ofclaim 13, wherein the detected gap ends upon reception of a data packetfrom a data transmitter.
 15. The device of claim 8, wherein reception ofa packet triggers entry into an inactive state.
 16. The device of claim1, further comprising: the data transmitter.
 17. The device of claim 16,wherein the device is a mobile radio communication device.
 18. Thedevice of claim 17, wherein at least one of the data receiver and thedata transmitter comprises a chip configured to process data related towireless transmission of the mobile radio communication device.
 19. Thedevice of claim 17, wherein the data receiver comprises a baseband chipand the data transmitter comprises a radio frequency transceiver chip.20. The device of claim 17, wherein the data receiver comprises a radiofrequency transceiver chip and the data transmitter comprises a basebandchip.
 21. A method comprising: receiving data in sets of consecutivepackets from a data transmitter, each set comprising a first packet andat least one further packet; determining whether the first packet of aset of consecutive packets is received; and determining whether the datatransmitter sends the set of consecutive packets based on whether thefirst packet of the set of consecutive packets is received wherein it isdetermined that the data transmitter does not send the set ofconsecutive packets if it is determined that the first packet of the setof consecutive packets is not received.
 22. The method of claim 21,wherein the data is received from the data transmitter via an electricalline.
 23. The method of claim 21, wherein the data is received from thedata transmitter wirelessly.
 24. The method of claim 21, wherein it isdetermined whether the first packet of a set of consecutive packets isreceived based on whether the first packet of the set of consecutivepackets is received within a pre-determined time.
 25. The method ofclaim 24, wherein the pre-determined time is a pre-determined time aftera time of reception of a previous packet.
 26. The method of claim 21,wherein it is determined that the data transmitter sends the set ofconsecutive packets if it is determined that the first packet of the setof consecutive packets is received.
 27. The method of claim 21, whereinreceiving data from the data transmitter is stopped if it is determinedthat the data transmitter does not send the set of consecutive packets.28. The method of claim 27, wherein a synchronization with the datatransmitter is kept if it is determined that the data transmitter doesnot send the set of consecutive packets.
 29. A device comprising: a datasending determinator configured to determine whether a data transmittersends a set of consecutive packets, each set comprising a first packetand at least one further packet, based on whether the first packet ofthe set of consecutive packets is received by the device wherein thedata sending determinator determines that the data transmitter does notsend the set of consecutive packets if the first packet of the set ofconsecutive packets is not received.
 30. A method comprising:determining, by a data sending determinator, whether a data transmittersends a set of consecutive packets, each set comprising a first packetand at least one further packet, based on whether the first packet ofthe set of consecutive packets is received, wherein it is determinedthat the data transmitter does not send the set of consecutive packetsif it is determined that the first packet of the set of consecutivepackets is not received.